Harness Your Full Potential at Envision

June 8, 2023

​Today, the hiring landscape looks a lot different than it did in years past. In an effort to streamline recruiting, 70% of companies have normalized a hybrid hiring process that leverages virtual recruiting technology according to the Society for Human Resource Management. Remote interviewing has become commonplace, bridging geographic boundaries, and expanding candidates’ options. But what do these changes mean when recruiting new team members? In theory, an even wider pool of talent to pull from. In reality, hiring has never been more difficult. Successfully navigating today’s talent landscape will require a more scalable and engaging approach: recruitment process outsourcing. What Does It Mean to Outsource the Recruiting Process? The short answer: RPO is the partial or complete outsourcing of a company's recruitment process to a third-party service provider. Now, let’s explore the longer answer to that question. The inherent structure of the traditional workplace is changing. RPO is here to help leaders and hiring managers evolve their recruitment processes in a way that’s not only scalable but that also directly aligns their short-term hiring initiatives with their long-term strategy. Rather than a “one size fits all” program, organizations can work with an RPO service provider to create a talent pipeline that makes the most sense for their unique business needs. Although it varies from company-to-company, some of the most common RPO offerings include: On-Demand/Project: Looking to hire extra support for a time-sensitive project or have an immediate need for talent in a specific department? A contract-based engagement defines the specific number of roles you need during a set period of time. Function-Based: In this agreement, an RPO provider will oversee a portion of your recruiting needs for the foreseeable future rather than a set period of time. This is often done for specific divisions or departments such as IT. End-to-End: At this stage, an RPO partner is managing every step of your recruitment process, giving you full access to their resources and expertise. Why are RPO Services Growing in Popularity? Although global interest in RPO services has steadily grown in recent years, it's now clear that recruitment outsourcing is here to stay. One international report found that the industry is expected to reach a value of $21.69 billion by the end of 2027. Why are so many companies moving toward RPO services in place of traditional recruiting? In a hyper-competitive market, a company’s greatest asset is its people and their talents. Aberdeen Strategy and Research found that within the 60% of organizations that handle recruitment in-house, it’s more likely that internal teams lack an understanding as to what's causing skill gaps in their workforce. Meanwhile, companies that partner with an RPO provider find that more than 50% of their workforce is “top quality.” Globally expanding enterprises may also be looking to build up and establish brand new teams in overseas locations, where they currently have no people on the ground. By outsourcing the entire recruitment process to a trusted partner that knows the region and where to find the best talent, saves time, money, and logistical barriers. By leveraging RPO-based hiring practices, leaders not only differentiate their companies, but they also gain access to top talent in a way traditional recruiting methods can’t. How RPO Varies from Traditional Recruiting Methods If you’re wondering how RPO is different from traditional staffing agencies, you’re not alone. Although there is some overlap between them, they represent two very different approaches to the talent acquisition process. When deciding whether RPO makes sense for your organization, keep these key differences in mind: Placement Over Fit Recruiting agencies pull from their own pool of applicants and get paid when they "sell" you on these candidates. This means leaders miss out on other valuable sources, such as employee referral programs or their own website. With RPO, it's different. Your provider is working for you to find the best talent, using a combination of resources to ensure you're getting the most suitable, qualified candidate ⁠- not just whoever is available first. Candidate Experience When you’re working with a staffing agency, you lose much of the control you have over the culture of your hiring process and how that reflects on your company as a whole. With an RPO provider, you’ll work together to ensure that your mission and values underscore recruitment and interviewing policies. Proactive vs. Reactive Oftentimes, hiring initiatives are thought of as a reactive response, either to an employee leaving or a skill gap becoming more apparent. Your RPO provider will leverage advanced reporting and talent analytics to identify future opportunities to improve your overall acquisition strategy, keeping you a step ahead of the competition. A traditional staffing agency will simply react to your hiring needs as they come up. Just remember: Recruitment process outsourcing is about more than simply filling open jobs. Instead, it's a strategic partnership between you and your provider. Together, you’ll bridge critical skill gaps and plan for long-term initiatives by bringing together the best of people, processes, and technology. Managing Recruitment Costs and Other Benefits of RPO One of the most significant benefits of leveraging an RPO solution is that your provider will work with your team to understand your unique hiring needs and how they fit into your long-term goals and your unique business process. By optimizing your approach to talent acquisition, you’ll also gain access to: Cost savings: Recruitment agency fees can quickly add up. Combined with the costs of subscribing to job boards and high turnover rates, leaders are left paying the consequences of a bad candidate fit. Rather than charging a salary-based commission on each candidate, an RPO provider works with you to determine your hiring needs. With that information in hand, they will tailor their services and pricing model to what makes the most sense for your organization. Flexibility: Your talent needs are rarely consistent month-to-month. Depending on seasonal demand fluctuations or deadline-specific goals, an RPO partner provides the option to scale their services as needed to meet your evolving recruitment goals. Data-driven insights: When working with an RPO provider, you'll have access to their market-wide knowledge and reporting capabilities. This can include industry trends, patterns specific to your organizations, and opportunities to leverage new tools for your hiring strategy. With the right RPO partner on your side, you can create a quick and efficient hiring process that helps your organization to remain competitive, better manage costs, and access new growth opportunities. Partnering with an RPO Service Still not certain whether an RPO service is right for your organization? As you work to make your decision, consider the following questions: Do you have hard-to-fill positions with very specific skill sets and talent needs? Are reducing employee turnover and better managing your recruitment costs both part of your organization’s long-term goals? Do you have fluctuating talent needs that make it difficult to predict when you’ll need to ramp up your hiring efforts? If you answered yes to most or all of these questions, an RPO partner likely makes the most sense for your organization. Look for partners who have industry-wide experience as well as scalable solutions focused on your needs as an employer. Whether you need end-to-end support or are looking for on-demand services, your RPO provider should serve as your long-term strategic partners and brand champions. Getting Started with an RPO Partner Hiring has never been more difficult. Faced with heightened competition and widening skill gaps, leaders need tools and processes to better manage the recruitment process. The right RPO partner can help. Armed with an optimized approach to hiring, you’ll be able to meet your talent acquisition needs while better managing costs and staying ahead of the competition. Ready to learn how an RPO provider could deliver value to your organization? Get started by contacting Envision today.

May 25, 2023

​​In today's hyper-competitive labor market, organizations struggle to attract and hire the talent they need to remain productive and grow the business. As a result, many employers seek outside help to fulfill their hiring needs. While there are plenty of staffing solutions out there, they're not all built in the same way or for the same purposes. Knowing which one is right for your business can mean the difference between developing a long-term strategy that delivers top talent or relying on short-term solutions for critical hiring needs. To help you understand the different options you have when it comes to talent acquisition, let's go through the three primary hiring solutions you'll find: recruitment process outsourcing (RPO), staffing agencies, and recruitment agencies. Recruitment Process Outsourcing When you outsource your recruiting process to an RPO service provider, they take on part or all of the responsibilities to help you drive productivity and efficiency, enhance the candidate experience, and increase the quality of each hire. In contrast to traditional staffing services, an RPO firm acts as a long-term business partner, working with you to develop a comprehensive talent acquisition strategy and proactively strengthen your candidate pipeline. RPO recruitment is also designed for flexibility. Whether you need an immediate staffing solution or continued full-lifecycle support, an RPO partner allows you to scale with ease to accommodate low- and high-volume periods. Plus, you gain deep industry knowledge, expertise in niche skill sets, and valuable insights into global hiring trends to attract and secure only the best talent for your organization. Staffing Agencies When companies need to expedite the hiring process to fill essential positions on short notice or hire workers for an upcoming project, they often turn to a staffing agency. These agencies typically focus on finding temporary workers, also known as contingent staffing, through an applicant database. While staffing firms can support your team and secure short-term workers for critical operations or services, the pricing models often mean they're motivated to hire efficiently, not necessarily effectively. In other words, because you pay a staffing company for every hire, their business model tends to focus on finding the fastest placement rather than the most qualified candidate. Recruitment Agencies In contrast to contingent staffing agencies, a traditional recruitment agency specializes in hiring full-time employees. These recruiting services emphasize their ability to attract and retain long-term employees who add value to your organization. However, working with a recruitment agency can lead to the same pitfalls as a staffing firm. While recruitment agencies offer a pipeline of active candidates to quickly fill open positions, it may be redundant for companies who already have one built out. Additionally, these agencies often use a similar fee system to staffing firms, focusing on a speedy hiring process instead of ensuring each candidate has the skills and personality to fit your company. The RPO Difference So, what sets an RPO company apart from other staffing solutions? The main advantage of outsourcing your recruitment process is the lasting business relationship you will develop with your RPO partner. For instance, when you work with Envision, you'll get a dedicated team of RPO recruiters who spend time getting to know your business. We live and breathe your company to ensure that every candidate we assess has not just the necessary hard skills but also the crucial culture fit to mesh with your organization. We also monitor and report on key performance metrics — such as time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, candidate experience, and retention levels — to provide you with peace of mind and exceptional results. When you go RPO, you get: Proactive SourcingWhether you're contending with fluctuating staffing demands or struggling to meet a consistent hiring need, RPO providers offer a wide range of talent acquisition services to accomplish your business goals. It starts by enhancing your employer brand and streamlining processes to make the hiring process as painless as possible. Then, recruiting experts work with you to strategize and build a proactive pipeline that delivers the right talent when you need it. Reduced Recruitment CostsRPO recruitment offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing you to scale your services and workforce to achieve your business goals. When you leverage the power of an RPO partner to handle all of your recruiting needs, you can significantly reduce the use of third-party staffing solutions altogether. In addition, you save even more money on indirect expenses, such as the time it takes and the cost of a bad hire. A Dedicated Talent Acquisition PartnerWith in-depth knowledge of your entire business, your RPO recruiters act as a seamless extension of your internal recruitment function. As the partnership evolves, an RPO partner helps you develop efficient processes and attractive employer branding. When it comes time to engage with candidates, they'll only communicate on your behalf and always act with your best interests in mind. What’s the Right Recruitment Strategy For You? While it's easy for us to say the right choice is RPO, the real answer will depend on your business's specific situation. Staffing and recruitment agencies certainly have their place, providing short-term support for seasonal or immediate placements. If you're seeking a simple transactional relationship to fill a few roles, then contract staffing could be a good solution. But if you want to evolve your recruiting strategy and create proactive processes for competitive talent acquisition, an RPO partner may benefit you more in the long run. Overcome Your Talent Troubles With Envision Envision is a leading provider of global talent acquisition solutions. Our flexible RPO models cover everything from short-term hiring projects to full-lifecycle support and more. With deep knowledge of recruiting in a wide range of industries and niche skill sets, we partner with you to source, assess, and secure the best talent for any position. Interested in learning more? Reach out to the Envision team today.

May 11, 2023

For many organizations, the hiring process begins when an employee leaves, leaders make the decision to find a replacement, or a new project requires additional workers. However, this reactive approach to recruitment can lead to tight crunches and poor hiring decisions. Moreover, teams are often left to make do with growing skill gaps while handling multiple workflows, harming productivity. To hire and retain the best talent, and ultimately stay ahead of the competition, you need to build a proactive acquisition pipeline that delivers highly qualified candidates when you need them most. But how can you accomplish this? Let’s take a closer look at how you can develop a winning talent acquisition strategy that achieves unprecedented results. Identify and Align With Business Goals Before you dive into creating or modifying your recruitment process, it’s important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. What are your organizational goals over the next few years? How can your strategy meet these talent needs. Think about how your company will scale or expand in the future and focus on finding skilled candidates that can take you there. By taking the time to align your process with business goals and plan out your workforce needs, you’ll not only make better hiring decisions — but you’ll also be laying the foundation for future success. Refine Employer Branding Just like a consumer brand is aimed at spreading awareness and driving customer engagement, your employer brand should focus on marketing to candidates. Before a person even applies to a position, they’ve likely already interacted with your brand in some capacity. You need to present an image that immediately attracts attention and encourages job seekers to find out more. According to LinkedIn, passive candidates comprise around 70% of the global workforce, meaning most talent isn’t actively looking for new job opportunities. To attract these skilled workers, your employer branding should be highly targeted and relevant to these audiences. Optimize the Candidate Experience Outside of first impressions, the next most important thing to a potential employee is the hiring experience. Do your job descriptions set realistic expectations? Are they engaging and mobile-friendly? Do your applicants have to wait weeks to hear back from you? Candidates want a seamless experience throughout the hiring process. Optimizing this journey requires regular communication and consistent messaging across multiple touch points. Streamline the Onboarding Process Even after an employee accepts an offer, it’s still possible to lose them to a competitor. A seamless onboarding experience can smooth the transition and set up every employee for success, no matter their role or responsibilities. Start by introducing your new hire to the team, which will create an environment of trust and support. Then, define the expectations you set out in the hiring process. This will provide a foundation for professional growth and development, clearly demonstrating your company culture while articulating your organization’s goals and processes. Add Value With Professional Development Retaining top employees is no easy feat, especially in today’s competitive labor market. However, when you offer your workers a clear path toward the next step in their careers, they’ll be more likely to stay with your company and learn new skills. Whether you provide extensive training to reskill or upskill employees, or you offer professional development programs to help your people advance their careers, these investments strengthen your company in the long run. Plus, you can shape your employees into future company leaders to ensure you have the right talent with the necessary skills for any position. Develop a Proactive Talent Pipeline With an effective strategy in place, it’s time to shift focus toward building a proactive pipeline for talent acquisition. Unlike recruitment, which reacts to changing hiring needs, proactive talent acquisition prepares your organization for the rapidly evolving hiring landscape. Identify where you need additional support (both short- and long-term) and develop a targeted persona to clearly define your ideal candidate. Don’t know where to start? A recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner like Envision can help you understand your current strengths and areas for improvement. Reach out to an expert today to see how Envision can elevate your talent acquisition strategy.